Last-place Stars fire Lorne Donaldson – Equalizer Soccer

Chicago Stars FC have fired Lorne Donaldson. The club’s 3rd full-time head coach in the National Women’s Soccer League era was let go with the team mired at the bottom of the table after six matches. First assistant coach Masaki Hemmi has been named interim head coach.

“We are grateful to Lorne Donaldson for the culture, respect and sense of self-belief he helped build within our squad. We appreciate his work and wish him the best for the future,” said Chicago Stars general manager Richard Feuz in a press release.

Donaldson was hired December 20, 2023 at the dawn of a rebuild following a last-place finish in 2023 that ended a stretch of seven seasons in a row in the playoffs. Donaldson, who coached Jamaica to the Round of 16 at the World Cup earlier in 2023, got the rebuild off to a surprising start in his first season at the helm.

The 2024 Red Stars, as they were then known, opened the season 3-1-1 and were at .500 as late as the Olympic break 16 games into the season. Sam Staab, acquired the same offseason as Donaldson, tore her Achilles during the Summer Cup and the team finished 3-7-0. It was still good enough to sneak into the playoffs, where they lost in Orlando.

This season began with news that Mallory Swanson was stepping away from the team for personal reasons. Three months after the announcement, there has been no update on Swanson’s status. Without her, the offense has slumped with just 3 goals in 6 matches. Two of them came in the club’s only win, away to Bay FC earlier this month. They have lost their other give matches and are 0-3-0 at SeatGeek Stadium. Including the end of 2024, the Stars have lost their last six home matches.

Donaldson’s regular season record as Stars head coach was 11-19-2.

Hemmi’s first match in charge will be Sunday afternoon at Gotham. He will have assistant coaches Ella Masar, Karina Báez and Brenton Saylor as his support.